How To Make an Oil Cooler/Front Mount Intercooler

How To Make an External Oil Cooler or Front Mount intercooler.

Nothing says custom, or shouts JDM like a shiny oil cooler with braided hoses mounted ridiculously out of place on the front somewhere.

And you can’t really call a turbo charged car customised if it doesn’t have a nice big intercooler somewhere on the front either.

Today we are going to make sure your future diecast customs always shout JDM, all thanks to one of my awesome readers, and more importantly – a fellow customiser and friend who let’s be honest, is one heck of a Hotwheels customiser!

A Guide By Pisut Masanong

Whether you choose to use the resulting ‘cooler’ as a front mount intercooler or externally mounted oil cooler is completely up to you. I have personally used this method a few times now, each time changing the size slightly to suit the particular car etc. Hats off to Pisut indeed, for what I am about to share is truly one of those great ‘hacks’ that as soon as you read you think “damn, now why didn’t I think of that?!”

Just before we start, and don’t worry I’ll remind you again after – but make sure you follow Pisut’s Facebook page by following this link here 🙂

Making an Oil Cooler or InterCooler – Step by Step

The first thing you need to know is what tools and implements are required:

Staples. Yep, staples! That’s what they’re made of folks. And Pisut = genius.

A small metal file.

Thin malleable wire*

Step 1:

Take a ream(?) of staples where the top side is the same as the length of the cooler you want to make. (I personally use and recommend size No. 25 as this gives you a cooler face that is 6mm across)

NOTE: In the example here provided by Pisut, he is using what appears to be much larger staples and as such is filing one edge away and using the SIDES of his staples as the cooler.

Take the metal file and as Pisut is demonstrating, simply file the corners on each side. I recommend holding it at both ends and filing away a section in the middle so as to stop it snapping on you mid file. Especially if you are using the smaller staples like myself.

Once you have filed away about 50% or so of the metal edge where the staple bends over it should simply snap off with a few motions up and down.

Take note: As I recommend doing it from the middle, you need to break off your desired width of intercooler or oil cooler first. To do this I recommend inserting a sharp blade or exacto knife into the exact gap and then applying pressure. This should be enough for the staples to break apart at the right place.

Now you can simply take each side of the staple and fold the edge back and forth a few times until it falls right off. Or if you were smart like Mr Masanong then you would have the right sized staples and only be needing to break off one side :p

Adding Hoses and Attaching the Cooler

Once you have your cooler done you need the hoses to go on it – assuming it’s an oil cooler of course.

Pisut has provided an example using ลวดมัดปากถุงขนม… which Google translates as Wire Bundle or Candy Bag. I’m going with the first one LOL. The images below provide the steps but some other suggested materials, in case you cannot get access to the wire bundle – or a candy bag for that matter include:

Bonsai or garden wire – available in brown which is actually a perfect colour in many instances

Soldering wire – would actually be perfect for this application as it is very malleable and definitely holds its shape.

The old Hotwheels axle. I just tested it and although you need a vice and a pair of pliers to bend them – they do bend and you can make it work if needed

Speaker wire. Probably not the best option but if you have no choice then something like speaker wire could work.

The Final Result:

And there you have it – the easiest and quickest hack that results in your customs looking a million times better, All using a 20c pack of staples that you’ve had lying in your draw for 10 years anyway. Because let’s be honest now – who the hell uses a stapler still?!

Some of Pisut’s Customs:

For your viewing pleasure, here is a couple of Pisut’s customs. If you want to see more – and I strongly recommend you do, then be sure to check out his Facebook page ‘HotWheels and Diecast car Custom by Pisut Masanong’ – or simply follow this link HERE

Comments

2 Comments

I personally used a touch of superglue. And when I say a touch I literally mean it. I recommend getting an old axle and putting a small drop of glue onto a business card or something. Then dip the axle into the glue and apply it to the back of the cooler. One drop is literally all you will need. do the same thing for the hoses. I would recommend only affixing the end of the hose to the cooler and having the other end either poking INTO the car or just resting somewhere. The reason I say this is because superglue dries white and you dont want a little spot right on the front grill somewhere.